George f



(NMdel.) r G; F. GHAPPELL.

Handle formP'ill Cutters;

N0. 242,883. Patented June-14, 1881.

.,WITNBSSBS; Mm ai www] UNITED STATES GEORGE F. GHAPPELL,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HANDLE FOR PILL-CUTTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 242,883, dated June 14,1881.

Application tiled March 16, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known thatI, GEORGE F. CHAPPELL, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Handle for Pill-Cutters; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the drawingsaccompanying and forming part of ,this specication.

The handles in use before my invention were composed of al corrugatedpill-cutting plate in combination with a wooden slab. The mass ofmaterial, in a. thoroughly-mixed state, out of which the pills are made,was first rolled down on a grou iid-glass slab to a roll of the requireddiameter of the pills to be cut from it by the wooden slab or back ofthe handle. Then the handle was reversed and its corrugated side passedback and forth several times over this roll in a direction a-t rightangles to its length, in order to cut vthe roll and to shape in pillsthe cut portions, from which last operation there results the finishedpills.

In the table in front of the ground-glass slab over which the handle ispassed in the first operation above described is placed a 'corrugatedplate, and onto which the roll rolled up on this ground-glass slab ispushed in the second operation above described, the edges ot' which inthis second operation must coincide with the edges in the corrugatedplate of the handle; otherwise the pills will be imperfectly formed.Sometimes out of material for one hundred thousand pills is produced butninety thousand, thus entailin g a loss on the manufacturer and thegiving of imperfect doses of medicines to the consumer. This, in casesof subtle poisons,which are sometimesworked up into very smallpills, isso objectionable that the pills have to be tested and frequently remade.In large pills it is sometimes, by reason of irregularity in their size,necessary to reassort them, selecting out the irregular and too light ortoo heavy ones in order to remake them. This imperfection in the pillsis sometimes occasioned by reason of the springing of the wooden slab atits center when the pill material does not yield readily to theoperationof rolling it into the long roll preparatory to the cutting and shapingoperation, but more frequently by reason of the wooden slab becomingwarped.

So sensitive to any change of direction are the corrugated edges on themetallic plate contained on the handle that a divergence of thethickness of tissue or thin Writing-paper will at't'ect un favorably theoperation of pill-m akin g. This warping is caused by the changes in theweather, also by the frequent washing of the slabs, which washin g theyare subjected to after the operation of pill-making in order to cleanthem for future operations. This necessitates constant attention to thehandles, such as makin g true their backs and taking the Warp ordeection out of the plates. A thin plate of metal has been tried on thewooden back as a sheathing; but the wood warps it. If made heavy enoughto prevent warping, there is an objection to it on account of its addingtoo much weight to the handle. If too much weightis added to the handle,it becomes objectionable to the operatives, most of w hom are women andgirls, and the dealers will not have them.

Myimprovements consist in com billing, with the corrugated pill-cuttingplate, the handle of a ribbed meta-l plate, so that the delieeting inuse of the handle and its warping when not in use will be overcome, andat same time the handle, although wholly composed of metal, will berendered light in handlingin the operation of forming pills.

In the drawings is represented a handle for pill-cutting machines, inwhich handle is elnbodied my said improvement.

Figure lis a plan view of the handle with the corrugatedcutting-plateshown partly broken away, and Fig. 2 is a cross vertical section takenthrough the line .r .r of Fig. 1.

a is the corrugated vpill-cutting plate. At its back is a light metalplate, @containing strengthening-ribs c o o o, Src. At the ends of thislast-named plate are two knobs or projections, cl d, by means of whichthe pill-handle is manipulated by the operator.

e e are the end plates, one on each end of the plate b, and which gageon the table of the pillmachine the thickness or diameter of the pillsin the process of their formation, first in the long roll with the backofthe plate b ofthe pill handle, and, secondly, in its completion in thecorrugations on the pill-handle and on the table of the machine. Theseplates, through which the knobs or projections d d also pass, are atloo'taehed to the plate b by means of screws f f f f. metallic flanged backplate, b, having the series The corrugated plate ais attached to theplate of ribs 'c o, the projecting end handles, d d,

b at each ofthe four corners by means ofscrews g g g g. This gives ahandle which Will not, under any circumstances, with ordinary Wear andtear, get out of order, and which can be operated with by the mostdelicate operator Without diflicnl ty.

I claim- As an improved article of manufacture, the handle forpill-cutters herein described, consistin g of the Corrugated face-platea and the and the projecting gage-plates c e, attached to 15 the ends ofthe back plate, the hack plate and face-plate being connected by screwsor pins passing into the ribs c, all substantially as set forth. v

GEORGE F. GHAPPELL.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. HUNTER, ELWYN S. MAILLER.

